Saturday, January 10, 2015

An investigator will determine the cause of the fire, which was reported at about 9 p.m.
at the home, near Third Avenue North and just west of the Lake Worth
Golf Course, said Capt. Albert Borroto, Fire Rescue spokesman.

Upon
arriving, crews found smoke coming from the home and overhead power
lines sparking, said Capt. Albert Borroto, Fire Rescue spokesman. They
soon discovered there was heavy fire at the rear of the home that had
burned through the roof.

The fire was brought under control after
several hours, Borroto said. Firefighters had to cope with several
obstacles, he said, including an unsecured power line that required Lake
Worth Utilities to shut down the neighborhood’s power grid. The
homeowner’s personal belongings also created a large “fuel load” inside
the home that limited how firefighters could fight the fire, Borroto
said.

The number one site for tourism information in Florida is VisitFlorida.
Tourists from around the world use this site for their traveling
needs. Dave's Last Resort, bed & breakfasts, and even the
Gulfstream Hotel (under renovation) are featured on Lake Worth's VisitFlorida site. This is what a tourist considering a Lake Worth vacation will see:

Lake
Worth has great beaches, a new fishing pier, historic buildings, and a
revitalized downtown with an eclectic mix of antique stores, specialty
shops, restaurants, art galleries, music venues and special events. One
event not to be missed is the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival,
where the asphalt becomes a canvas in a temporary, open-air museum.
Other cultural activities center around the tree-shaded square on Lake
and Lucerne Avenues. Golf is a favorite, too, at the Lake Worth Municipal Golf Course, one of the most scenic courses in The Palm Beaches, right on the Intracoastal Waterway and Lake Worth Lagoon.

You
can send this information to your friends up North. If you have a
business in Lake Worth there is contact information at VisitFlorida with
rates to advertise your business on Florida's Number One tourist site. From VisitFlorida:To explore 2015 advertising opportunities on VISITFLORIDA.com click here or contact us at adsales@VISITFLORIDA.org or call (850) 205-3815.And this is also what tourists see when they visit the Lake Worth page
on VisitFlorida:

And this case might make it to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dan Moffett at the Coastal Star writes this story about a code case in Manalapan that began in 2005. From the article:

One of South Florida’s longest-running building code disputes could be nearing an end after nearly a decade in the courts.
In December, Louis and Wendy Navellier sent a check for $232,000 to
the town of Manalapan, a day before the Town Commission was scheduled to
consider foreclosure action on their South Ocean Boulevard home.
The payment covered years of $250-per-day fines that accumulated after
the Navelliers built a pool cabana that violated the town’s building
codes. At one point, the fines reached about $500,000, but a
magistrate’s ruling reduced them last year. The Navelliers have
fought the town at every level of the judicial system, unsuccessfully
appealing all the way to the Florida Supreme Court. They currently have
an appeal pending in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Governor Scott and Sheriff Bradshaw honored one of our PBSO deputies for his heroism. Read about Brian Fidler and the Governor's Heroism Award by the Post's Hannah Winston:

The Herisse children don’t remember what happened on June 6 in their Lake Worth home.

All that’s left of a 2 a.m.
fire that engulfed the residence are the burns on arms, legs and faces.
Smoky memories and scars aside, their mother is just happy a Palm Beach
County Sheriff’s deputy was able to rescue them.

“I am so thankful,” Youseline Herisse said.

Friday
morning, Governor Rick Scott honored deputy Brian Fidler with the
Governor’s Heroism Award for saving the lives of three children. The
award is given to individuals who risk their lives and go “above and
beyond the call of duty.”

Fidler was surrounded by fellow
deputies, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, the governor and a handful of local
politicians, as well as the the family he saved.

“We don’t see it every day,” Scott said referring to the heroism of first responders. “But they’re out there doing it.”

By the way, there was a substantial fire in the 300 block of North Palmway yesterday during the early evening hours. Reports of heavy smoke in the area and a local power outage. No word on the cause of the fire yet.

More 'news' on the Double D Saloon in western Palm Beach County. Andy Reid at the Sun Sentinel is getting into the act and Wayne Washington at the Palm Beach Post continues to fan the flames. Now the Broward New Times is reporting on it too. The New Times contains more salacious news reporting that can't get published in a
respectable news organization, ergo the reputation of bottom feeders.
Here is the image New Times reporter Chris Joseph used to promote his story:

The picture is just a little bit inflammatory.

Now on Andy Reid and his article about the Double D Saloon. Andy Reid quoted PBC Commissioner Steven
Abrams on the neighborhoods located near the Double D Saloon like this,
"it's not Boca Raton". This neighborhood is actually represented by County
Commissioner Melissa McKinlay.

Here are the last 4
paragraphs from Andy Reid's article in the Sun Sentinel; he is
definitely not trying to dial back the community's anger:

McKinlay [County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay],
who lives in Palm Beach Plantation near the proposed Double D Ranch and
Saloon, said she is also concerned about more adult businesses deciding
to open in the area. She said there are 22 other sites along Southern
Boulevard west of Florida's Turnpike eligible to have adult businesses.

"If we make it easier for these establishments ... that's not the message that I want to send," McKinlay said.

Abrams [Commissioner Steve Abrams],
who represents southeastern Palm Beach County on the commission,
pointed out that it has been more than a decade since the county last
approved an adult entertainment permit.

And while the location along Southern Boulevard planned for Double D Ranch and Saloon is down the road from a couple of neighborhoods, "it's not Boca Raton," Abrams said.

More of a western Palm Beach County story, the 'Double D Saloon' controversy is not going away any time soon. There
will be a lot of noise and consternation but that will be the extent of
it. As reported by Wayne Washington of the Palm Beach Post, county staff advised:

Erecting
barriers to the permitting and construction of strip clubs could make
the county vulnerable to lawsuits, since the clubs are seen as places of
expression protected by the First Amendment.

An excellent review by Liz Balmaseda, a restaurant reviewer at the Palm Beach Post. Ms. Balmaseda visited our Bradley's Beach Clubat the golf course and had great things to say about Mitch Reale's operation there. Great job, Mitch!

This is wonderful news especially in comparison to all the vendors that preceded in this location. Almost all were written off as hot dog, burger, fries and microwave joints that only serviced the golfers. Now we have a legitimate restaurant that is a destination for those in the surrounding residential area and increasingly pulling from a larger geographic area. Word is getting around and a review like this will help.

Here are some excerpts from Ms. Balmaseda's review:

One
comes here to be transported without great fuss. There’s plenty of
self-parking. Walk-ins are welcome. Finding a nice table is easy enough.
Grab one on the terrace and glance across the greens and Lake Worth
Lagoon toward the Palm Beach skyline. Take a breath, a sip of beer and
chill.

The service is rather relaxed, but friendly.

[and...]

During my visits to the
Beach Club, I’ve found myself gravitating toward the outdoor terrace,
where the view is relaxing and time seems to slow down. But if there’s a
good game on, you can catch it at the separate indoor bar area, where
on a recent night a younger crowd played pool and sipped beer. There’s
also a more traditional dining room that seems ideal for larger parties
or special events.

[the review ends with this...]

Yes, it may sound like a noisy affair, but it’s not. The open space has a way of quieting the bustle to quite pleasant levels.

So,
if you happen to be stressed out over the coming Apocalypse (which has
been delayed indefinitely) our Lake Worth Bradley's Beach Club is a
great place to chill and get some perspective, along with a cold beer.

Most people agree that Pope Francis has been a breadth of fresh air for the Catholic Church. He has and continues to inspire millions of people around the planet with a message that the status quo is not acceptable and that the main role of the Church should be to serve those in need. He has also generally demonstrated more openness when it comes to being gay in the Church.

On Tuesday,
the Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, sent a letter to his employees
lamenting the arrival of marriage equality to the state and warning
staff members that they could lose their jobs if they post anything to
social media to express support for same-sex marriage.

“Whatever
the role in which you serve within the Archdiocese, you publicly
represent the Catholic Church and the Archdiocese in everything you do
and say,” the letter read, according to NBC 6. “Therefore, it is important that you understand the Church’s position and are well informed.”

Effective January 8th, 2015, my
51st birthday; we are very excited to announce that we have expanded our
boundaries. Our next quarterly meeting, we will be formally
introducing our expansion of our boundaries to cover the Whispering
Palms neighborhood area. After speaking with former commissioner Retha
Lowe, who I will be meeting with in January, we agreed it would be in
the best interest of that neighborhood to be covered by the consistent
efforts of Genesis Neighborhood Association to work together to
eradicate blight, reduce crime and foster and promote an environment of
residents and businesses working together. Genesis has recently secured
a third corporate sponsor and new member business member of our
association, Oasis Health and Rehab Facility. Our new boundaries are
now from the south side of sixth avenue south to the southern boundaries
of our city limits and from the east side of I-95 to the West side of
Dixie Highway. We are happy to now be serving the only area in our city
that is not presently covered by an active neighborhood association. We hope to recruit participation from residents and businesses alike
from this area. We have already identified a home in that area that we
will be scheduling to paint.

"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary" ~ Vince Lombardi

Happy New Year,

Thursday, January 8, 2015

How many streets has Lynn Anderson walked
promoting her candidates and issues over the years? You would think
someone involved in City of Lake Worth politics would be intellectually
curious...like ask the question, "Where is 'State Street' in Lake
Worth?" Lake Worth, the City, is less than 7 square miles. There is no 'State Street' in the City of Lake Worth.
How many 'crimes' in Lake Worth has this 'blogger' falsely,
inaccurately attributed to our Lake Worth PBSO over the
years? Maybe I should assign a researcher to find out.

These inaccurate and false reports beg the question: is this done purposefully to inflate the crime stats in the City of Lake Worth?

Be skeptical where you get your local news from. Specifically from a self-proclaimed long-term resident uneducated on the municipal boundaries between the City of Lake Worth and the 'suburban' Lake Worth neighborhoods.

If you are patient and can make it through the rant of the first speaker, it is worth listening to, some good information and input from the public including the establishment of a City Information center at the City Hall Annex. The Commission responds to the comments at the end of the video. Those comments begin at about the 13 minute mark.

But
first, new owner Scott Levine needs to finish up some renovations to
the 1925 property, known locally as the “Birthday Cake Castle,” at 1 S.
Fifth Ave., according to island interior designer Bill Kopp.

“A
new master-suite addition as well as new windows are being installed,”
said Kopp, who has returned as one of the general chairmen of the
fundraiser.

The Red Cross will take over the property Jan. 19,
when more than 15 design firms will begin to decorate rooms and
landscape the exterior. The show house will open for tours beginning March 5 and close April 4, just before Easter Sunday.

This project went through the Historic Resource Preservation Board at its November meeting for the changes necessary, with the guiding principle to correct some work that was not sensitive to the historic nature of the property that have happened over time. It was clear that there was a cooperative spirit on the part of city staff to work with the applicant to make things happen to coincide with the advanced pace of the project's schedule.

In the Palm Beach Post's 'Point of View' section in Wednesday's paper, Drew Martin from the Sierra Club had something profound to say:

"It
is time to move to energy from alternative sources that don’t pollute,
such as solar. Burning trash is not the solution to our energy needs. We
also need to reduce the amount of trash generated through composting
and recycling. This will extend the life of our existing landfill."

The Sierra Club is hard at work. Sigh.

Now what do you think after reading this? Somewhat surprising:

"[a]n
area where we have been producing oil for more than a half-century —
the Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park areas —
has received $30 million in LWCF [Land and Water Conservation Fund] funding
in 2012 alone. In addition, the Florida Everglades Restoration Project
has received about $58 million from the LWCF over the past three years
to restore the natural flow of water in the Everglades ecosystem."

Mr. Mica goes on to explain the history of the Land and Water Conservation Fund:

The
LWCF is celebrating its 50th year. Its idea dates back to President
Dwight D. Eisenhower, was built upon by President John F. Kennedy, and
then enacted into law in 1964 during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s
administration in a brilliant bipartisan congressional effort. What a
“win-win” situation: Americans have access to affordable, reliable
energy produced from domestic resources offshore, and our environment
and cultural heritage is conserved using the revenues generated from
royalties paid by the oil and natural gas industry.

You can listen to David Mica here. He was guest on my podcast, High Noon in Lake Worth.

Florida is referred to as a "bellweather" state. And you as a citizen will have tough choices to make to lead the way in the coming years.
Policy will guide us forward and we'll need people with the vision,
experience, and education to draft these governmental and private-sector
initiatives.

Somehow, Drew Martin's solution
to our trash problem, "composting and recycling" isn't that new of an idea.
Something to think about before you write that next check to the Sierra
Club. Maybe the answer going forward is cheap, reliable energy resources
as Mr. Mica's proposes. And the LWCF has a proven track record with a
solid impact on our environment here in south Florida.

Rickie Leiter, the publisher of The Rickie Report has this to say about the City of Lake Worth:

"Come and meet the artists of Lake Worth. Lake Worth is fast becoming a serious hub of artistic activity.
It is where art is shown, where artists live and where artists come to
create their work. Come enjoy and see what it’s all about."

The Rickie Report is promoting the Lake Worth Art Synergy Event. From the article:

"Art comes to life in flaming glory on Friday, January 23, 2015 at 7:00 PM!
Two of the most renowned glass artisans, Shelley Muzylowski and Rik
Allen, will give live demonstrations of their glassblowing skills at the
new Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts, a 14,000 square foot fine arts
fabrication center located in Lake Worth. Benzaiten’s Creative Director
Rick Eggert will also be demonstrating his phenomenal skills along with
glass artist, David Peterson. Participants will also enjoy music,
flowing champagne & wine along with artistic nibbles plus a special
gallery show with many of the city’s leading artists participating."

I encourage readers to visit the Benzaiten website and learn more about the Lake Worth Art Synergy Event here.
The Benzaiten Center is a non-profit and their success depends in large
part on volunteers. So if you're a fan of the arts or just want to help
out, the Benzaiten Center has an online form for volunteers.

Things are happening fast folks. And don't forget, the Lake Worth Street Painting festival is next month. See reminder in right-hand column.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Did you ever wonder what it is like to join a protest?
You can dig out your old jeans and tie dye T-shirt and take a selfie or
three. You might even get your picture in the Palm Beach Post or an
action shot on Channel 12 (WPEC)! You can rub elbows with some of the elite of our Anarchist community! Continue reading, details to follow
later.

Everglades EarthFirst! (EEF), the
protest organizer, likes to do artwork promoting their protests. Here is
their artwork promoting the Actions on December 5th and December 12th:

Here is the art produced by "Kat Eng" promoting the protest this Friday, January 9th:

The Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is
a crucial, iconic animal for EEF as they fight to stop Scripps and the
biotech industry in the Palm Beach Gardens Briger Tract. I was able to
find interesting information about the Gopher Tortoise at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Gopher Tortoise is a "threatened" species in Louisiana,
Mississippi, and parts of Alabama. However, the Gopher Tortoise is only a
"candidate" for protection in eastern Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia,
and Florida. The Gopher Tortoise is doing relatively well in our neck of the
woods in south Florida. There are established relocation requirements for greenfield sorts of development for the species. Many suffer from a specific, lethal virus and are even administered blood tests at times so that resources are not wasted moving sick turtles that have a shorter life span.

If
the Gopher Tortoise is important to the folks at EEF, shouldn't
they be moving their operation to Louisiana, Mississippi, and western
Alabama? But I digress, more on the protest this Friday:

Activists and concerned citizens from all around will be gathering from 4:30-6:30 on January 9th, at Donald Ross and Central Ave in Palm Beach Gardens [see map below] to help save this forest from the corporate interests who fail to see its value and beauty.

This
681 acres is currently home to several threatened and endangered
species, including the gopher tortoise and snowy egret. It is slated to
become home to more strips malls, more residential units and a biotech
city complete with animal testing labs.

This is a new one
to me, the Snowy Egret. I could be wrong but don't think EEF has ever
mentioned the Snowy Egret before. If I am wrong, I apologize.
The Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature is a species of "Least Concern" of protection and notes that "[T]he population trend [of Snowy Egrets] appears to be increasing".

Back to the planned protest. Here is more about the protest from EEF on Friday:

In
its current state, the Briger Forest is an uncommonly large and
valuable piece of habitat, boasting an ecosystem that is the last of its
kind in this area. It is the home to several species under threat of
extinction, including the gopher tortoise and hand fern.

However,
after much controversy, the Scripps Research Institute is looking to
fulfill their dream of a commercial/residential offshoot of their
facility on Florida Atlantic University’s FAU campus— by bulldozing one
of the largest tracts of intact forest remaining in southeastern
Florida.

But we can stop it! There
are several legal challenges being pursued, so let’s keep the pressure
on and let them know we still care!

JOIN US TO SAY “NO!’ TO OVERDEVELOPMENT AND “YES!” TO THE WILD!

EEF says " 'YES' TO THE WILD!" If you plan on joining the protest with EEF on Friday, note the Briger Tract is not exactly "THE WILD". You're never going to see an episode of Survivorman in
the Briger Tract as professional Les Stroud goes with, "No food, no
shelter, no fresh water, no tools" with the ever-present traffic noise
of I-95 and the clatter of dishes and smell of hot wings at the nearby
Hurricane Grill.

And lets be clear. There are designated preservation areas that are part of the approved plan.

Of
course we all wish the EEF "leader" (horizontal as the organization may be) and Anarchist Panagioti Tsolkas the
best. For years now, he's sacrificed and fought to save the Briger
"Forest". With most efforts such as these public perception is
everything and a misstep can be catastrophic. When a member of EEF threw
a vehicle battery into a nearby lake at their first protest on November 7, 2014, well...you can see how the simplest misstep can have devastating consequences.

If you do attend the protest by EEF please send me some pictures, please! Let's wish everyone involved good luck on Friday and don't forget to check out the Tropical Smoothies just down the street (see map above) afterwards.

And here is a great bike route to get there so you don't have to worry about your carbon footprint there and back. This eliminates the parking problem too. Make sure you have working lights; white in front and red in the rear.

We heard about this at last night's City Commission meeting. Look for the video coming soon from the Public Comment on Unagendaed Items section of the Lake Worth City Commission meeting last night for more information.

From the Lake Worth Neighborhood Association Presidents' Council (NAPC): On Friday, January 16th,
the NAPC will host a very special Front Porch at Evening on the Avenues
in the Cultural Plaza. In appreciation for our Lake Worth First
Responders, PBSO District 14 and PB County Fire Rescue, Stations 91 and
93, the Front Porch will be lit with special blue lights and we invite
all our neighbors to join us as we celebrate the important relationships
we have with these two organizations. Information about many of the
community services offered by PBSO and PBCFR will be featured with
Officers and Firefighters on hand to answer questions. A Special
Statement of Appreciation will be offered from the stage followed by
cake for everyone. Please join us for this special evening recognizing
our Lake Worth First Responders.

Here is the video from last night's City Commission meeting where our local first responders were honored:

I
watched the piles of feces go up the conveyer belt and drop into a
large bin. They made their way through the machine, getting boiled and
treated. A few minutes later I took a long taste of the end result: a
glass of delicious drinking water.

The occasion was a tour of a
facility that burns human waste and produces water and electricity (plus
a little ash). I have visited lots of similar sites, like power plants
and paper mills, so when I heard about this one—it’s part of the Gates
Foundation’s effort to improve sanitation in poor countries—I was eager
to check it out.

The water tasted as good as any I’ve had out of a
bottle. And having studied the engineering behind it, I would happily
drink it every day. It’s that safe.

There was a short item in the Palm Beach Post yesterday (in
the online edition) about the Double D Ranch on Southern Boulevard out
west past the Turnpike. For those of you unfamiliar, this topic is a hot
one in that area of the county. The Double D Ranch is going to be a
strip club and it was permitted in 2001. Yesterday the Post
reported on the 're-review' of the permitting process after a public
outcry and the result is still the same, the project can proceed. Wayne
Washington of the Post writes this:

Palm
Beach County found no irregularities or discrepancies in what staff
members called a “re-review” of the permitting of a strip club now being
built on Southern Blvd. west of the Florida Turnpike.

The
review, conducted in December at the behest of a county resident opposed
to construction of the Double D Ranch and Saloon, confirmed what staff
members have told county commissioners — that there is nothing they can
do to stop the project, which has generated fierce opposition.

On December 5, 2014, Post reporter Chris Persaud along with Wayne Washington wrote this article about the Double D Saloon controversy, titled: Abrams, Valeche accepted donations from strip club manager

A full eight paragraphs later in the article, Mr. Persaud and Mr. Washington write this:

The permit to build the Double D was issued in 2001, long before either Valeche or Abrams won a seat on the county commission.[emphasis added]

Some
day in the near future, I will go out and take some pictures of this
location for my readers, for perspective. Zoning issues can be very
complex, but in this case the zoning process was fairly simple and
straightforward. Without any churches, schools, parks, and other strip
clubs nearby you simply cannot deny a project because people don't want
it there. Zoning laws serve a real purpose and if someone follows the
rules and goes through the process in good faith they have the right to
proceed regardless of the public's displeasure. This falls under the First Amendment freedom of speech and expression provisions of the Constitution.

Deal of the year? Two Lake Worth homes selling as package for under $40,000

From the article:

Two
homes in and near Lake Worth are selling as a package deal for $39,999,
but the marketing materials carry an ominous warning _ “Savvy investors
only.”

An email blast was sent yesterday to clients of 32 West Realty in West Palm Beach advertising the homes in unincorporated Lake
Worth and on 6th Avenue South within Lake Worth city limits.

[and...]

Still,
a dwindling supply of cheap homes had some investors chomping at the
bit. Just 33 homes were for sale in Palm Beach County in November for
under $50,000. Restrepo said her phone was ringing off the hook Monday.[emphasis added]

In the continuing effort to clarify the corporate limits of the City of Lake Worth, here is a review of what happened with a recent story. The Palm Beach Post got it right. Here is the Post headline (with emphasis): PBSO seeks gunman in suburban Lake Worth shooting late Saturday

The good news is the shooting victim has non-life threatening injuries. We all wish him a quick and speedy recovery.

After
I saw the first TV news report of the shooting in "Lake Worth", within
90 seconds I knew the news report's location was too general and therefore inaccurate. How? I went
to Google maps and typed in "State Street, Lake Worth" and then to the
Google street view of the 900 Block of State Street where the shooting
occurred. After I saw a house number went to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser and typed in the address. Here is what I found:

Note that the double zeros in the first part of the Parcel Control Number indicate unincorporated Palm Beach County. So does the "Municipality."

The
shooting location, the 900 block of State Street, is in unincorporated
Palm Beach County: Suburban Lake Worth. Remember, I found this out in
under 2 minutes. As high-tech as modern day news is today why did all
the TV stations get it wrong? Newsrooms must have fact-checkers; people who verify dates, times,
names, details and LOCATION, right? Or do all of the TV stations rely on
each other for the facts, playing follow the leader after the first news report?

In the continuing effort to teach the local TV news the borders of the City
of Lake Worth, here is a map from the PBC Property Appraiser's website
with some points of reference added:

The
shooting location is indicated on the map. State Street runs
north/south across 10th Ave North from the Walmart in Palm Springs.
State Street is well west of Wayne Akers Ford and also west of the E-4
Canal.

Before
any news story hits 'the air' it is produced and then edited. It would
be fair to say at least 5 people from each station had a part of this
news story. If the number 5 is about right, then approximately 15 people
(presumably Palm Beach County residents) from three TV stations didn't
take the few minutes to get the location correct for their viewership.

Why is this important? Because there are people that are perennially "loose with the truth" in order to put forward their agenda here in the City of Lake Worth. There are some that do not care about these location distinctions, especially if it points to their effort to malign the efforts of PBSO in terms of service in the City of Lake Worth. Continue to be cautious regarding what is reported and where the media says the incident takes place. And, the same goes for other bloggers as well.

From Joe Capozzi and Eliot Kleinberg we have this latest news for Spring Training baseball in West Palm Beach, a possible land swap. If these negotiations don't succeed there is always John Prince Park, remember. From the article in the Palm Beach Post:

A
private developer has withdrawn plans for a mixed-use project on the
same 160-acre site where the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros
want to build a $135 million baseball complex.

Parkside Commons’
decision to abandon its proposal prompted West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri
Muoio to open negotiations with Palm Beach County on a land swap that
represents the missing link in the baseball project.

“We have an unexpected window of opportunity,” Muoio said Monday at a press conference outside City Hall.

Monday, January 5, 2015

From the Lake Worth Herald
last week (1/1/15) comes this sage advice for those who see the tiny
City of Lake Worth as a crucial cog in the fight between the forces of
Progressives and Conservatives, good and evil, ICLEI, Agenda 21, the
MPO's, GMO's, and SmartMeters, to name just a few. Here are some
excerpts from the Lake Worth Herald:

Comes a new year. Will it bring new attitudes to Lake Worth?

One can only hope with the new year would come a sense of
cooperation and understanding. This is Lake Worth and there really is no
place for the polarized political attitudes of the National Front.

[later...]

We
need to learn tolerance of each other's points of view. We need to
listen and communicate. Without this, Lake Worth will continue to feed
the local TV stations with fodder upon which to discredit our city as
they have in the past. It is from their feeds the national news picks up
and spreads the unflattering news about Lake Worth.

With cooperation and understanding of each other we can compromise and turn this city around.

[and...]

Happy New Year and remember to resolve to work hard to make Lake Worth shine.

WE CAN DO IT!

If
you reside in Lake Worth know this: It's difficult enough trying to
influence county policy at the Palm Beach County Commission, let alone
state policy in our capitol, Tallahassee. Even more absurd is anyone who
believes our little City is going to change national policy in
Washington, D.C. It's just absurd. For some perspective: Lake Worth is a
medium-sized municipality, one of 38, in Palm Beach County (PBC). The
available data shows there are 1,372,171 residents of PBC and Lake Worth
accounts FOR ONLY ABOUT 3%, or 34,910.

Lake Worth elected officials and staff are working hard to secure
funding for our little City of Lake Worth. And they need our help. They
need our encouragement and support. What they don't need are
distractions like rumors of 'ICLEI' taking over planning issues in Lake
Worth, George Soros influencing local officials, or SmartMeters with
'mind-control' capability. The politics of paranoia does nothing to
contribute to the quality of life in our City.

And neither does content like this from another blogger in Lake Worth:

In just over two weeks, the condo proposed for the Chapel-by-the-Lake
site will go before the West Palm Beach planning board for a zoning
change. The project will go once again before the city commission
which voted unanimously for the project last year. The group that opposes
the project scored a procedural victory in that the city of West Palm
took advice from an attorney that was incorrect as reported by Eliot Kleinberg in last Sunday's Palm Beach Post. Mr. Kleinberg also interviewed a Florida Atlantic professor who said:

And he [Frank Schnidman] said this case is by no means rare.

“Procedural problems are the most common reason that the development approval process is delayed,” Schnidman said.

We
agree that it’s unlikely any commissioners will be changing their
minds. Nor should they at this point. As we’ve said previously, given
that First Baptist Church intended to sell the property regardless, the
City Commission did the best it could to fulfill its responsibility to
demand a project that balances private profit and public benefit. That
was evidenced by the long months it took for the developer to win
commission approval.

But again, expediency cannot be a fall back
for circumventing the process — intentional, or no — that allows for
residents to make their voices heard.

Opponents who have
staunchly fought against the condo project from the beginning, most
assuredly will continue to do so before the planning board later this
month.

That’s fine. And city leaders are wise to encourage that
part of the process this time around, even if the planning board for
some reason does not approve of this latest version.

On January 3rd, I wrote about Liz Balmaseda's horrendous restaurant review of Bravo! Cucina Italiana. Liz Balmaseda trashed the new restaurant at Jupiter's Harbourside, even going so far as to give a thumbs down on Bravo's house tomato sauce, a supreme insult to any Italian restaurant and chef.

Liz Balmaseda criticized the plating, the sauces, the salads, the flavors, called the menu items "prepackaged", and referred to Bravo Cucina Italiana as "a sign of the apocalypse". Not the sort of review that you would likely see displayed on the restaurant's wall.

It didn't take long for a letter to be published in the Palm Beach Post from Michael Baz in Tequesta titled, Critic’s review aims to bury restaurant:

Friday’s
restaurant review by Liz Balmaseda was disturbing — not for what she
had to say about the food, but that she made it personal (“Except for
pizza, no ovation for Bravo’s”).

“Lost in the faux: Jupiter” — “faux” means “imitation,” or “not real.” Does this mean the restaurant is serving fake food?

Even
more unfortunate is her closing remark: “Quite possibly, this is a sign
of the apocalypse.” I would not describe food I didn’t like as “an
event involving catastrophic damage.”

For some reason, she has decided to bury this restaurant. She owes readers and the restaurant an apology.

Usually reviewers will give a restaurant that they had an initial bad experience a few more chances to get things right before a negative review. I agree with Mr. Baz of Tequesta. Ms. Balmaseda's review of Bravo! Cucina Italiana was unfair and the restaurant deserves at least another chance.

Number one, this is a good example of government using social media to get information out that is important to a lot of people. Number two, our Palm Beach County Clerk Sharon Bock is going out of her way to accommodate couples that are now able to legally marry in Florida. It should be noted that there are at least 14 of Florida's 67 counties that have chosen to discontinue marriages held at their courthouses. This is done in an act of defiance and demonstrates some of the deep divisions in our society.

We should be proud to have such a public servant here in Palm Beach County.

From the official press release:

Clerk Bock Announces Group Wedding Ceremony on January 6 at 12:01 a.m., South County Courthouse located at 200 W. Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach.

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. (January 3, 2015) – At 10:30 p.m. on Monday, January 5,
the South County Courthouse will begin processing marriage license applications to be issued at midnight on January 6, 2015.
Shortly thereafter Clerk Sharon Bock will perform a group ceremony
marking this historic occasion. For information on the requirements to
obtain a marriage license please visit the Clerks’ website at www.mypalmbeachclerk.com.
Those planning on attending the group ceremony at midnight on January 6
at the South County Courthouse in Delray Beach are encouraged to take
the state required premarital preparatory course online or with a
provider.
“I am pleased to be part of this historic celebration and I look forward
to officiating the group wedding ceremony,” said Clerk Bock.
All five Clerk & Comptroller locations will resume normal operations on Tuesday morning, January 6, at 8 a.m. All locations will be issuing marriage licenses and performing ceremonies for all couples.

This "news" was originally posted on the Palm Beach County AlertsFacebook page. The person who hosts this site writes this about his experience: "I have worked in Emergency Services for the past 18 years, and I post breaking news/incidents in Palm Beach County!" It really is a cool thing and acts a lot like a police/fire scanner for the Internet age.

The
location of this incident was not in the City of Lake Worth.
State Street is located south of the Walmart on 10th Ave North, outside the city limits of Lake Worth. For the person who hosts the Palm Beach County Alerts site please read this and educate yourself on what is Lake Worth and what is not Lake Worth. Hint: just because someone has a Lake Worth mailing address is irrelevant as it relates to city boundaries. There should be a clear distinction between Lake Worth and Suburban Lake Worth, as other blog posts here and here attest.

It does seem that the message is getting across. Imagine if the City of Lake Worth did this on its own Facebook and Twitter accounts in an official capacity? That would be quite a change agent in people's minds. We'll continue to wait for those official announcements, hopefully not too far in the future.

Location is a critical part of a news story. Get it wrong and you put your own credibility on the line. Continued sloppy misreporting without needed correction erodes the city's identity and its many positive qualities.

The Mother Jones online magazine has a very good article about texting
and walking. The number of injuries is truly alarming. As part of their
story they have this video which is not for the faint of heart.Watch the video first and then decide if you want your children to watch.

The title of the Mother Jones story is: Texting While Walking Is Obviously Dumb. So Why Can't We Stop Doing It?

According to a 2012 Pew study,
most grownups have bumped into stuff while looking at their phones, or
been bumped by someone else on their phone. A Stony Brook University
study in 2012 found that texting walkers were 61 percent more likely to
veer off course than undistracted ones, a finding backed up by other
researchers.

Greatest "hits" compilations abound on YouTube. One
woman tumbled into a mall fountain, another off a pier. A man nearly
collided with a roaming bear. While pride suffered most in those cases,
more than 1,500 pedestrians landed in emergency rooms due to a
cell-phone related distracted walking injury in 2010—a nearly 500
percent jump since 2005—according to a recent study from Ohio State
University.

Put
the phone down and pay attention to your surroundings. In recent memory,
I can't think of a single text message that couldn't wait a minute or
two.

Kim Miller at the Real Time blog has this story with the full list, here is an excerpt:

Realtor.com
has released its annual list of the most searched ZIP codes of the
year and one Florida city ranked above all others.

Orlando’s 32801 ZIP found its way to the top spot not for Disneyworld, but for its downtown. [emphasis added]

According
to Realtor.com, the downtown Orlando area is popular with searchers for
its eclectic mix of people, housing and entertainment. While just 28
percent of residents in this ZIP are homeowners, the area is a “magnet
for young people and empty nesters alike.”

Clerk Bock Announces Group Wedding Ceremony on January 6 at 12:01
a.m., South County Courthouse located at 200 W. Atlantic Avenue, Delray
Beach.

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. (January 3, 2015)

At 10:30
p.m. on Monday, January 5, the South County Courthouse will begin
processing marriage license applications to be issued at midnight on
January 6, 2015.

Shortly
thereafter Clerk Sharon Bock will perform a group ceremony marking this
historic occasion. For information on the requirements to obtain a
marriage license please visit the Clerks’ website at www.mypalmbeachclerk.com.

Those planning on attending the group ceremony at midnight on January 6
at the South County Courthouse in Delray Beach are encouraged to take
the state required premarital preparatory course online or with a
provider.

“I am pleased to be part of this historic celebration
and I look forward to officiating the group wedding ceremony,” said
Clerk Bock.

All five Clerk & Comptroller locations will
resume normal operations on Tuesday morning, January 6, at 8 a.m. All
locations will be issuing marriage licenses and performing ceremonies
for all couples.
For more information about the Clerk’s office, please visit www.mypalmbeachclerk.com or call (561) 355-2996.

There were so many [pictures] that brought back memories
of 2014 that for one reason or another did not fit in this blog, yet I
liked them for one reason or another. This backward look then took on a
life of its own. Like or dislike I was there in the moment!

In
the past month, six men, women and children were left to die on South
Florida streets after hit-and-run drivers struck them and sped away.

They
died in Hollywood, Miami, Dania Beach, Pembroke Pines, Boynton Beach
and Deerfield Beach. Among them: Two children walking home from a
basketball game in two separate cities, a deaf woman who was remembered
as an adventurer and a handyman who was a grandfather to 11.

Arrests have been made in at least two cases. But the other hit-and-run drivers remain at large.

Many of these accidents are at night. Of course, we cannot excuse the act of the driver not staying at the scene of an accident. Most of these seem to happen at night, along busy roadways. Please make sure to wear light colored, or better yet, reflective garments when you walk or bike at night. If you do bike at night, make sure that you have a white light on the front of your bike and a red light facing the rear. You can be pulled over and assessed a ticket for not having either, or both. The fine is $60 for either; it is $120 if you lack both. Do not skimp on the quality of either light. Make sure that each has multiple modes and various flash settings that suit various environments. Try to stick to roads with lower traffic volumes. If walking, try to choose an area with sidewalks and ample street lighting. If not, consider carrying a flashlight with you. These simple precautions may prevent you from being a victim of this sort of incident.